“PUT THE POT ON THE FIRE”…2600 years ago, on the 10th day of God's appointed 10th month, December 24 on our 2023 calendar, The Almighty spoke these eternal words: “The people there refuse to obey me. I have a story with a message for them. Tell them, "This is what the Lord God says: 'Put the pot on the fire.' " Ezekiel 24:3

God’s people had chosen to believe His continuing benevolence meant He would always bless them as a nation in His Jerusalem “pot”. Three years earlier, folks had been totally convinced of it by the "princes of the people", governing leaders with golden rhetoric who were actually "plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. They say, 'Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.'" Ezekiel 11:2-3.

Chapter 24 begins with GOD instructing the prophet Ezekiel that the final siege of Jerusalem by their enemy has begun. The Almighty’s reply of judgment upon these leaders not only attacked their prideful “pot” logic, but laid it bare, using their own analogy of being in God’s pot of safety to finally convince them that was the exact OPPOSITE of His plan.

“The people there refuse to obey me. I have a story with a message for them. Tell them, "This is what the Lord God says: 'Put the pot on the fire. Put on the pot and pour in the water. Put in the pieces of meat. Put in every good piece, the thighs and the shoulders. Fill the pot with the best bones…” Ezekiel 24:2-4

Yes, God’s “pot” is filled the haughty and self-righteous who thought they were the best of all nations, secure in Jerusalem. God makes the parable clearer in Ezekiel 24:6. “’It will be bad for Jerusalem. It will be bad for that city of murderers. Jerusalem is like a pot with rust on it, and those spots of rust cannot be removed! That pot is not clean, and the rust cannot be removed, so the meat must be thrown out and not divided among the priests. Jerusalem is like a pot with rust on it…"

God continues in verses 9-14 to tell them what He will do and why. "So this is what the Lord God says: ‘It will be bad for that city of murderers! I will pile up plenty of wood for the fire. Put plenty of wood under the pot. Light the fire. Cook the meat until it is well done. Mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. Then let the pot stand empty on the coals. Let it become so hot that its stains begin to glow. Those stains will be melted away. The rust will be destroyed. Jerusalem might work hard to scrub away her stains. But that ‘rust’ will not go away! Only the fire of punishment will remove it. You sinned against me and became stained with sin. I wanted to wash you and make you clean, but the stains would not come out. I will not try washing you again until my hot anger is finished with you! I am the Lord. I said your punishment would come, and I will make it happen. I will not hold back the punishment or feel sorry for you. I will punish you for the evil things you did.' This is what the Lord God said.”

God continues by calling Ezekiel’s world to a place of humility and worship. "The Lord said, 'Son of man, I will take away the place that makes the people feel safe—Jerusalem, that beautiful city that makes them so happy. They really love that place. They love to look at it. But I will take it away from them, and I will also take their children. On that day one of the survivors will come to you with the bad news about Jerusalem. That same day you will be able to talk to the messenger. You will not be silent anymore. This will be a sign to the people, and they will know that I am the Lord.’” Ezekiel 24:15-27.

But even as God convicted and pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel, and indeed, the evil of all nations on this earth, He also announced through Ezekiel that He had a plan for restoration following the hard lessons. “Then I will put one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them and be their shepherd. Then I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be the ruler living among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. Ezekiel 34:23-24

The tones of this Old Testament scripture should ring a New Testament bell for us at this time of year. “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:31-33

This IS the language of Ezekiel or should we say, of the Lord, Himself. The prophecies and visions of Ezekiel are so powerful some are even recognized by other religions. Ezekiel's vision of the resurrection of dry bones in chapter 37 is included in the collection “Stories of the Prophets”. We recognize the dry bones are a metaphor for a dead nation, and that the powerful imagery of Ezekiel paints an incredible future picture of God’s Spirit coming to bring His people back to life.

And the language of Ezekiel is GLOBAL, pointing us straight to Ephesians 2:11-22: "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit."

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Ezekiel 37:22-24, 27-28 speaks the same thing from an earlier perspective, as the Word of the Lord describes. “I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

“My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees…My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.”

Yes, The Word of the Lord is a global plan for the ingathering of ALL His people, ONE HOLY NATION UNDER ONE HOLY KING, Jesus Christ, Incarnate Son of God. To that end, nations will be put through the refining fire of God’s restorative justice.

THIS IS WHAT THE LORD GOD SAYS: “PUT THE POT ON THE FIRE.”